kannur l Wednesday l december 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Champions Trophy: India and Pakistan clubbed in same group The ICC finally announces the schedule for the global 50-over competition that begins from February 19 in Karachi rival neighbours play in dubai on feb 23 Boxing day test: India hope for MCG heist India are clubbed with Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh in Group A. Group B comprises South Africa, Australia, Afghanistan and England. India vs Pakistan is on February 23. If India progress to semis, they will play in Dubai on March 4. If Pak advance, they play in 2nd semis in Lahore next day. If India enter final, it will be in Dubai or else in Lahore on March 9 ■ The Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch is expected to be seamer-friendly ■ when India take on Australia in fourth Test on Thursday morning India are yet to decide on the final XI, but the Aussies have said they will hand 19-year-old Sam Konstas his debut. The visitors need a win to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Match live: 5 am | P11 1-1 The five-Test series is level at one apiece CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Allu Arjun grilled for three hours, seeks bail C h i t h a l u r i Re v ant h @ Hyderabad Actor Allu Arjun, accused in the Sandhya Theatre stampede case, was on Tuesday grilled for more than three hours by the police. Parallelly a bail petition , was filed on his behalf in the Nampally court here. Arjun faces charges of culpable homicide as a woman was crushed to death in the stampede. And her son continues to be in a critical state in a hospital. Advocates appearing for the actor filed a bail petition in the Nampally court, which is expected to be heard in the next few days. The Nampally court has already granted bail to six persons in the case. Arjun reached the Chikkadpally police station at 11 am where a team of officials, led by Central Zone DCP Akshansh Yad av, q u e s tioned him. According to sources, the police posed over 20 questions regarding his visit to the theatre and the Dec 4 stampede. Some of the questions reportedly posed to Arjun were: Did the theatre management inform him about the denial of police permission? If they did, did they inform him or his team? “Did you, or your team, inform the theatre management about your arrival? Why did you come in a rally? While you were on the way to the theatre, why did you open the sunroof of your car and wave to the crowd? Were you made aware when you were inside the theatre that a person died due to that rally? Did the police inform you on that day about the death of a woman?” were reportedly among the questions the police asked Arjun. Sources said the police showed videos of the stampede. “Why did you hold a press meet? Do you stick by what you said at the press meet since the videos indicate otherwise?” were some of the other questions. Arif Mohd Khan R V Arlekar A K Bhalla Gen V K Singh H B Kambhampati Guv Appointments, shuffles Arif transferred to Bihar, Arlekar new Kerala guv Strife-torn Manipur gets former Union home secy Ajay Kumar Bhalla as its new governor Ra j e s h K u ma r T h a k u r @ New Delhi The Rashtrapati Bhavan announced a major gubernatorial reshuffle on Tuesday evening, swapping Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and his Bihar counterpart Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. Strife-torn Manipur got a seasoned hand in former Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla as its new governor. The state is yet to emerge from the ethnic conflict between Meiteis and KukiZo groups that led to violence since May last year. Bhalla, the longestserving Union Home Secretary, completed his fiveyear tenure on August 22 this year. He is known to be a tough administrator and a strategist. Bhalla is a retired 1984-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre. If he manages to help bring some stability to Manipur, it would be a job well done. Till now, Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, who was holding additional charge of Manipur. This newspaper had reported earlier that Arif would figure in the gubernatorial re- shuf fle this year. Khan’s appointment in Bihar is being seen as a strategic move ahead of assembly elections in the state in 2025 in which the BJP as a major ally of the Bihar NDA nurtures dreams of coming to power at its own. Khan is a liberal Muslim scholar who articulates the Centre’s policies upfront. He was forever on a collision course with Kerala LDF government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Retired General V K Singh was appointed governor of Mizoram. The BJP had denied him a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls this year. Gen Singh replaces Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati, who has been transferred as governor of Odisha after incumbent Raghubar Das put in his papers citing personal reasons. Gen Singh’s name was doing the rounds for a gubernatorial assignment for long time and his appointment was expected to be either in J&K or Manipur but it went to Mizoram. Sources said many more gubernatorial appointments are on the cards for states like UP , J&K, Bengal and some UTs. CPM and Jama’at ‘bhai bhai’ outside Kerala E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i ce @ Kozhikode Taking the wind out of the CPM’s attack on its “theocratic state’ ideology, the Jama’at-e-Islami has released “proofs” for its close ties with the Communist party outside Kerala. In a Facebook post, Jama’at secretary Shihab Pookkoottoor said three among the four CPM MPs in Lok Sabha enjoyed the support of his organisation in the recent general elections. “Two of them are from Tamil Nadu and one from Rajasthan. Jama’at had supported CPM candidates in Tamil Nadu in 2019 elections too,” he said. Pookkoottoor shared the photos of CPM MPs with Jama’at leaders. In one photo Amra Ram, CPM MP from Sikar, is seen with Jama’at Rajasthan amir Muhammad Nazimuddin. In another picture, Ram is seen with Jama’at shura member Khurshid Hussein and Sikar district president Arif Jattu. Pookkoottoor also posted a photo manuspeak lapse yes but motivated Olympics double medallist Manu Bhaker said “there has been a lapse” from her side while filing nominations for awards but says she is motivated to win medals | P11 23 deaths in 2024: String of suicides back to haunt tribal settlements in Tvm A n i l S @ T’Puram Four suicides by tribal people in four days – two men and two women, all aged below 30! The death of newly-wed Induja of Palode two weeks ago is a pertinent pointer to the alarming increase in suicides among tribal people in Thiruvananthapuram. As per available data, 23 tribal residents — five of them young women — ended their lives in the district this year alone. Induja, 25, a Kani tribe member who chose to marry outside the community, took the extreme step on Decem- ber 6, after allegedly being caught in a vicious cycle of domestic abuse and harassment. Three more suicides followed in the next three days: 20-year-old Ajith of Idinjar on December 7; Namitha, 19, of Elavattom on December 8, and Vishnu, 30, of Alummoodu on December 9. This is not the first time suicides by tribal people in the state capital have set alarm bells ringing. As per rough estimates, around 138 such suicides were reported in the district between 2011 and 2022, mostly in Peringammala panchayat. Now, after two years of relative calm, the string of suicides has returned to haunt tribal settlements on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. A majority of those who ended their life belonged to the 20-30 age group. Going by their families and tribal activists, tremendous stress due to extreme social scenarios coupled with pressure and harassment due to marriages and relationships outside the community, along with burgeoning liquor rackets, con- ferocious and brutal that her eyes got gouged out,” local resiIn a tragic incident, an elderly dent Sajeevan said. woman was mauled to death by Karthyayani, who was lying a stray dog in Valiyazheekal, in a pool of blood, was spotted located in Arattupuzha pancha- by her daughter-in-law when yat, Alappuzha, on Tuesshe returned home. day. The deceased is Although she was Kar thyayani, 81, of immediately taken to Arayanchira in the Taluk hospital in Thakazhi. Kayamkulam by local Arattupuzha pancharesidents, her life yat member Mymoonath couldn’t be saved. told TNIE that KarthyayHer body was taken ani had come to her son to the Medical College Prakashan’s house few Hospital in Vandanam Karthyayani days ago to celebrate for post- mortem Christmas with the proceedings. family . Sajeevan said the On Tuesday when Prakashan house has compound wall on , and his wife went outside, one side and fencing on the othKarthyayani who was sitting in er side. The dog is suspected to the courtyard was attacked by have entered through the ● More on P4 a stray dog. “The attack was so fencing.  E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i ce @Idukki RCC Holy night Children are delighted to see the Christmas crib set up at St George Church, Edappally, in Kochi on Christmas Eve | A Sanesh The New Indian Express wishes its readers a Merry Christmas. Our offices will remain closed today. There will be no issue of the paper tomorrow E l e m e n ta ry, m y d e a r . . . ! Classic crime & nostalgia pay, iconic sleuths of Malayalam litt strike back Ra j e s h Ra v i @ Kochi The sleuths strike back! Decades after fading into obscurity , the iconic detectives of Malayalam literature —Bhaskar, Pushparaj and Marxin -- are making a comeback. Collectors are clamouring for reprints, and translations are flying off the shelves. Moreover, academia has finally recognised their significance, incorporating these works into the syllabus for popular culture studies. tribute to the deaths. “They (Induja and her husband Abhijith) studied together. After marriage, she was under immense pressure. His family wouldn’t let us tribal people enter their house. They were even reluctant to register the marriage,” said Sasidharan Kani, Induja’s father. “My daughter was murdered. No other family should have to endure this pain,” he said. Adivasi Mahasabha president Mohanan Triveni said lack of follow-up measures to tackle criminal acts too contribute to the increasing deaths by suicide.  ● More on P4 Elderly woman dies in stray Lokpal calls dog attack in Arattupuzha Sebi chief for faces music for dumping med waste in TN The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) has initiated legal action against the Regional Cancer Centre for the violation. RCC director termed the allegations baseless | P5 of former CPM MP from Tamil Nadu P R Natarajan sitting at the Jama’at office in Coimbatore. Jama’at cadre also shared the photo of the memorial meeting of former CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury held in Rajasthan, which was attended by CPM Sikar MP along with Jama’at leaders. CPM politburo member A Vijayaraghavan had blasted Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for accepting the support of the ‘communal elements among the Muslim community’ in the Lok Sabha elections in Wayanad. CPM leaders including state secretary M V Govindan, central committee memeber P K Sreemathi and LDF convener T P Ramakrishnan had endorsed Vijayaraghavan’s stand. “CPM views Jama’at support to Priyanka and Rahul as a great crime. The party is trying to whip up Hindu communalism using this as a tool,” Pookkoottoor said in the ● More on P4 post.  Rayan Pushpanath, grandson of renowned author Kottayam Pushpanath, attests to the resurgence of crime thrillers. In 2018, he reprinted his grandfather’s debut novel, ‘Chuvanna Manushyan,’ feat u r i n g D e t e c t ive Marxin. The book’s second life has seen a remarkable print run of 50,000 copies, with demand remaining ro- bust. The revival of Kottayam Pushpanath’s works began as a tribute to his legacy “We had a . publishing company, and my grandfather wrote nearly 350 books. Although the company was almost defunct, we decided to reprint his first book as a testament to his body of work. The response was overwhelming, and we now publish 30 books annually, having revived 70 titles,” Rayan explained. Additionally, translations in Hindi, Tamil, and Bengali have expanded the readership base. Dr Thomas Scaria, professor of Malayalam at St Thomas College, Pala, corroborates the renewed interest in crime thrillers. “The decline of weeklies that serialised these works was a significant factor in their temporary disappearance. However, with the recent reprinting of these works, there has been a notable demand from libraries and enthusiasts at book festivals.” As a member of the expert committee at Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), Scaria notes that academia has acknowledged the cultural significance of these works, leading to renewed interest and research. Notably, MGU and Kerala University have both included ‘Chuvanna Manushyan’ in ● More on P4 their syllabus.  oral hearing P r eet h a N a i r @ New Delhi TAKING cognizance of complaints of impropriety and conflict of interest filed by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and two others, anticorruption body Lokpal on Tuesday called Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch and the complainants for ‘oral hearing’ on January 28. The complaints were made on the basis of a report by USbased short-seller Hindenburg Research, according to an official order. In its report, Hindenbu r g a l l e g e d that Buch and her husband had stakes in obscure of fshore funds used in the alleged money siphoning scandal involving the Adani Group. The Lokpal had on November 8 sought Buch’s ‘explanation’ on the complaints filed by Moitra, a Lok Sabha member and two others. In its order, the Lokpal asked the Registry to issue notices to the RPS (respondent public s e r v a n t ) a s we l l a s t h e complainant(s) to avail of the opportunity of oral hearing on January 28. “It will be open to the RPS (respondent public servant) as well as the complainant to authorise an advocate to espouse their cause, if they so desire at the time of oral hearing,” the order said.